Traditionally, adequate moisture, softness and freshness have been retained in soft cookies and snacks through the use of ground raisins or other fruit pastes incorporated into the dough. These materials, however, impart a fruity taste to the dough that is acceptable in oatmeal-apple, or raisin flavored cookies, for example, but is not appropriate for soft chocolate chip, peanut butter, molasses or other varieties of soft, non-fruit tasting cookies, snacks and the like.
It is, therefore, among the primary objects of the invention to provide a suitable replacement or substitute for ground fruits or fruit pastes that has the desired properties of bland flavor, high moisture retention properties in baked products, compatibility with dough mixing and handling processes, and costs comparable to the prior art fruit pastes.
It is another object of this invention to provide a firm gel system, which is shelf-stable in character and which can be stored in sealed shipping units for indefinite periods of time and later distributed to baking locations or plants for production of soft-textured cookies, biscuits, snacks and the like.
Edible gel formulations are known in the art, but they are usually based on an aqueous system and used for filling baked products, for example, jelly-filled doughnuts and jelly rolls. U.S. Pat. No. 3,352,688, describes an aqueous-based light bodied gel containing a water-soluble alginate which is said to be free from gumminess and is heat- and freeze-resistant. Typical of the prior art, this teaching relates only to the filling utilized in baked goods, and not to the preparation of a soft-textured, moisture-retaining, cookie dough.
German patent publication No. DE-A2,420,622 and corresponding French patent No. 2268476 teach a gel composition for use as a coating or topping or filling for baked goods which gel quickly and quickly become firm enough for cutting. The base mass of the gel consists of a mixture of 25 to 55 parts by weight of sodium alginate, 0 to 30 parts by weight sodium hexameta phosphate and either 3 to 10 parts by weight calcium hydrogen phosphate or 5 to 20 parts by weight calcium citrate. Production of a grindable firm gel which is incorporated into a dough for producing soft-textured baked products is not taught or suggested.
In another teaching, typical of the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,612 discloses dessert gels which have the capacity to gel at room temperatures. This is said to be of particular advantage in tropical or subtropical, low income regions where refrigeration often is not available. Once again, the gel is based on an aqueous system, which in this instance utilizes carrageenin to prepare the dessert gel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,871 discloses that the use of corn syrup as substantially the only sugar or the use of corn syrup of higher fructose content than normal instead of just a mixture of sucrose and water and/or fruit juice improves the properties of jellies. The jellies are taught as having improved appearance, mouthfeel, and spreadability on bread or fragile crackers. The jellies comprise corn syrup, a flavoring material such as a natural flavor or fruit or vegetable juice, a polysaccharide or proteinaceous gelling agent including edible gums, an acidifying agent and an optional preservative or adjuvant. However, production of a grindable gel for producing soft-textured baked goods in not taught or suggested by the reference.
Another aspect of applicants' invention involves the use of a humectant such as glycerine in the preparation of the gel system. Humectants, of course, have long been used in the food industry, and more particularly in the preparation of baked goods. One such teaching relevant to this point is U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,967, believed to cover the familiar "Pop-Tart" dessert or breakfast items. Typically they comprise a fruit-filled product, adapted to be heated in a common toaster oven for one to two minutes. Heating produces the desired eating quality wherein the filling softens to a plastic or gelled condition and the crust has a crisp fresk-baked texture. A hydrophilic agent or humectant, such as glycerine or sorbitol in the filling retains moisture in the filling. There is no teaching of incorporating the humectant into a grindable gel composition for use in a dough.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,382, a molded edible product (e.g., for a childs's toy) may contain carrageenen to bind and/or gel a system containing glycerol and/or propylene glycol. Edible products are capable of being produced at quite relatively low baking temperatures, for example 195.degree. F. to 200.degree. F. This enables provision of an edible product which a child user may readily make with safety. Industrial, high-volume production of soft-textured cookies having an extended shelf-life contemplated by the present invention is not taught by the patent.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,119,697, stabilized icings are prepared using an agar or modified agar gelling agent in an aqueous system. This reference does not teach or suggest how to make soft-textured, baked cookie products having extended shelf-life as contemplated by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,362,831, 4,146,652, and 4,344,969 relate to imparting softness to edible food products. However, none of these three references teach or suggest the production of a firm gel which is capable of being ground for producing soft-textured baked goods.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,831 discloses the production of artificial fruits and vegetables by contacting an aqueous sol of a water soluble alginate salt with a solution containing edible alkaline earth metal ions to form an insoluble alginate film at the interface of the two solutions. Additives, such as corn syrup sweeteners, may be incorporated in the alginate sol prior to contact with the alkaline earth metal solution. Corn syrup sweeteners, it is taught, have a significant softening effect on vegetable textures without influencing their crunchiness.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,652 discloses intermediate-moisture foods which remain ready to use at freezer temperatures. The food products comprise about from 15 to 45% water, sugar in a ratio to water of about from 1:1 to 2:1, about from 2.5 to 30% fat, and minor, but effective amounts of salt, emulsifier, stabilizer and flavoring. The product is spoonable at about 10.degree. F. Vegetable or synthetic gums are disclosed as stabilizers which improve the body and texture of toppings and as aiding in providing freeze-thaw stability. Diols and polyols, such as propylene glycol and glycerol are disclosed as assisting in maintaining the foods in a bacteria-, yeast-, and mold-free state while providing softness or plasticity to the formulations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,969 discloses that cookies can be formulated to be soft and moist by high shortening and/or high water formulas or by the addition of fructose. See column 2, lines 35-47. The patent teaches incorporation of a carbohydrase into a cookie dough followed by a special baking process provides a cookie having a storage-stable texture which is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.
Great Britain Pat. No. 1,579,324 discloses a gelled pet food of intermediate moisture content which contains sufficient water-soluble preservative to reduce the water activity to a level at which the product is bacteriologically stable. Sucrose, sodium chloride, glycerin, propylene glycol and corn syrup are taught as solutes for water activity reduction. The food product also contains sodium alginate or another alginic acid derivative which is cross-linked to a gel by di- or multivalent cations, such as calcium ions. The rate of release of cross-linking cations is controlled by using a sparingly soluble source of calcium or by the addition of a slowly soluble acid to release calcium ions from an otherwise insoluble calcium salt.
In one embodiment, a high speed mixer is used to admix a fumaric acid solution with a cooled mass of the remaining ingredients of a meat-like pet food to minimize initial gel breakdown by mechanical action. The resulting mixture is then shaped or cut into strands or pieces having a meat-like appearance. Use of high shear mixing of the calcium ion source or alignate to avoid the initial formation of lumps is not taught or suggested. Furthermore, production of an edible firm gel which is capable of being ground for producing soft-textured baked goods is not taught or suggested by the British patent.
The present invention provides a process for preparing an edible firm gel which is capable of being ground, typically at temperatures of from about 65.degree. F. to about 85.degree. F., which is at least substantially lump-free and at least substantially homogeneous. High-shear mixing of the gel ingredients assures the attainment of at least a substantially lump-free homogeneous gel composition in an exceptionally short period of time. The period of time for the gel composition to firm, however, is sufficiently long so as to permit its removal from mixing vessels and to permit packaging of it for shipment to bakeries and the like. The gel is ground into pieces which are sufficiently small so as to be non-discernable as pieces by the consumer during consumption of the baked goods to which they impart soft eating qualities.